


Five Days in December (and One in January)

by glim



Series: white city [9]
Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Academia, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-14
Updated: 2010-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-08 00:14:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/pseuds/glim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Merlin thinks he's going to have the Worst Christmas Ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Days in December (and One in January)

_Thursday, 3 December, 9.45am_

 

Merlin stopped in front of his office door and fumbled for his keys. The unruly stack of file folders, books, fliers from his mailbox, and the open laptop that he was balancing in one arm complicated the task to the point where Merlin considered standing in the drafty hallway and waiting until his officemate arrived with her keys to rescue him. Walking back downstairs to ask the secretary for the spare sounded more dangerous than sensible.

After another minute of clumsily searching through the pockets of his coat and trousers and the compartment he could reach in his messenger bag, Merlin tried his luck and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Oh, Merlin. Do you need – here, give me the computer."

"Thanks, Freya. Yeah – that's, oh, okay, thanks," he repeated when Freya took the macbook and folder right beneath it from his arms and held the door open to let Merlin walk into their office. "You're here early, aren't you?"

"Sort of? I thought it would take longer to get here. With the snow." Freya nodded in the general direction of the outdoors. The closest thing to windows in their tiny office were the drawings they'd done on copy machine paper with Sharpies when they were first assigned room 419 in September. Currently, they had a lovely view of some mountains and a lake, the humanities library, some downtown shops, and the tea room they both liked to sit in and grade papers. "Was class good? It was your last day teaching, right?"

"Yeah, finally. We just talked about the revision paper and did evals."

"I've got those tomorrow. They're not hard or confusing or anything?"

"What? Evals? Oh, no, I'll show you how to administer them. And the grading program, I can show you that, too."

Merlin deposited his mess of books and papers onto his mess of a desk and gave Freya a smile. Her desk was neat, the cork-board covered in photographs of her friends and family, in postcards and post-its from her boyfriend at home in Portland, and she'd stacked most of her books in one corner to make room for the bagel, coffee, and juice she'd brought in to eat for breakfast.

Even without Freya's as comparison, Merlin's desk was absolutely a disaster and had been since before fall break. He rubbed both hands over his face, shifted what looked like the research for his Romantic Novel seminar paper, and settled his computer on the desk out of the way of any stray felt-tips or pencils. He was in serious need of tea. Strong, black, hot, blissful cup of caffeinated tea.

"It's only hard your first semester. After that, uploading the grades and everything is really easy. Hold on a second." He moved his chair so Freya could slide in closer and set about getting the calendar, stickies, iTunes, and other programs out of the way.

"It'll be nice to get this semester over with so I won't be completely new anymore. And I'm excited for winter break." Freya handed Merlin a pen that tried to make a rolling escape from his desk.

"God, me too. D'you want to go over the Old English close reading later on before seminar tonight? After I get tea?"

"Sure. We'll get through that reading faster together anyway. You log in here?"

"Yeah. See? Easy. Do you have plans for Christmas? Oregon, right?"

Freya nodded while she logged into the campus portal and clicked through to the instructors' tab. "So excited. What about you?"

"Home," Merlin replied. "Um, Ealdor. And my boyfriend's coming to visit," he added, quietly, and felt his ears flush a warm, bashful pink.

Freya knew about him and Arthur. Actually, most of both their friends and colleagues in the English Department knew by now. And while it wasn't exactly a problem – Merlin wasn't taking any classes or working with Arthur anymore – they didn't talk about it at work. Getting away from campus and still having Arthur around was going to be wonderful. They'd be able to go anywhere together, provided blizzard conditions didn't stop them, and Merlin would get to show Arthur where he'd grown up.

"Oh, that's so nice. I guess you're excited, too." Freya turned to him to smile, all quiet understanding.

It was hard not to smile back, so Merlin did, and felt the flush deepen when he couldn't stop smiling. "Yeah. Yeah, I really am."

 

*

 

_Wednesday, 9 December, 12.37pm_

 

"Are you sure you don't want a stuffed mushroom?"

Merlin cast a critical glance at the dubious tidbit and considered whether it might look better off the reindeer-emblazoned dish. "Did you make them?"

Offended at the suggestion that he didn't, Lance held his dish protectively close. "Of course I did. Would I bring store bought food to the department party?"

"No. You're too honorable for that." Merlin stabbed one of the mushrooms with his plastic fork and gave it another circumspect look. Before he could try it, his cell phone's message alert buzzed and Merlin's hand went immediately to the back pocket of his jeans. "Sorry. I should get that. Might be my mom, about travel plans."

Lance looked crestfallen for a moment, but brightened when he noticed a group of fellow Americanists on whom he could foist his contribution to the holiday party. Merlin, unlike Lance, had no qualms about bringing store-made food; in fact, he'd been proud enough of himself that he'd remembered to get cookies and bring them despite the week of insane paper writing.

Once he escaped the press of people in the common room, Merlin pulled out his phone. He had a text message, not from his mom, but from Arthur:

_Got some not so good news. Come by for dinner tonight?_

Merlin frowned. He'd seen Arthur last night and had plans for a sushi lunch with him on Thursday. Not that dinner with Arthur was a hardship, but Merlin had his three seminar papers to work on and a pile of papers to grade and, surely, Arthur understood how hectic the week was. It had to be crazy for him, too, what with his three classes worth of student papers and the anxiety they seemed to inspire. He texted back that he'd come by once Arthur had reassured him nothing was dreadfully wrong, ate his lone stuffed mushroom (tasty, but needed more spices), and trudged up to his office instead of rejoining the party so he could work on one of his papers.

A few hours later, Merlin found himself seated on Arthur's couch, another dish of food in his hand, and staring at Arthur.

"You… you couldn't just tell me this at work?" He prodded at his chicken and vegetable stir fry, now gone cold and unappetizing.

"What? Was I supposed to just walk into the common room and announce to the whole world I was off to MLA and sorry I can't meet my boyfriend's family?" Arthur had already finished his meal. He'd eaten quickly and quietly, in the manner that Merlin knew he'd wanted to get the conversation over with his as soon as possible. "You know I can't do that, Merlin."

"You would if I were…" Merlin knew that wasn't the right thing to say as soon as he started saying it. His stare dropped from Arthur to his abandoned meal. "I meant…"

"I know what you meant. And you're right. If I were a student, or you my colleague." Arthur's sigh was tight and near silent. "Look, this discussion isn't about how we behave in public."

"Isn't it though? It's not like you asked me to come to MLA with you, even though I asked you to come to Ealdor with me." A hot, stinging sensation pricked at the back of Merlin's eyelids and he blinked it away before it could develop into anything more than sensation.

"I just found out. It's not like I've been planning for months. Should I have told Dr. Cliff to break her ankle sooner so I'd know that I'd be on the job search committee?"

"Last week. You knew last week."

"Merlin. I… give me your dish, you're not even eating."

There was a lot of banging from the kitchen, the clatter of dishes and cookware, then the running of water and the sound of Arthur shoving things into the fridge and cabinets. Part of Merlin wanted Arthur to just start shouting at him, so they could get it all out in one burst of anger and frustration, and then there could be make-up sex or cuddling or a back rub or whatever, and Merlin could get on with his paper writing.

Another part of him knew they wouldn't be able to resolve this problem in one evening. Fuck, he didn't even know if it was a problem, or one that needed resolution. As long as he and Arthur stayed together while Merlin was in graduate school and Arthur kept his professorship at Villa Alba, they'd have to be discreet.

That didn't stop Merlin from wanting to do stupid things like push-pin a photograph of Arthur to his office cork-board or fix the collar of Arthur's coat while they walked down to the library together.

Merlin gave a sigh and scrubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes. The last part of him, the one that was exhausted from paper writing and paper grading, didn't even have the energy left to fight with Arthur. He was disappointed and sad, and his head was starting to hurt, and his throat already felt strangely tight and achy.

When the kitchen sink stopped running, Merlin sat up better on the sofa. "You could probably talk to me in the common room without risking tenure opportunities."

"I have a feeling this conversation wouldn't have gone over so well amongst the veggie dip and rainbow sprinkle cookies."

"Maybe if you stood by the cheese plate," Merlin offered. "I meant generally."

"I know. I've been…" Arthur stood in the doorway to the kitchen, drying his hands, and flung the towel over one shoulder. He'd finished up at work hours earlier than Merlin had and changed into a pair of old, faded, brown corduroy trousers and a long sleeve, blue waffle-knit shirt, one that Merlin liked to wear when he could sneak it from Arthur. "Careful, I suppose. But also professional. And I really don't want to share our moments together with the whole department. You know that's a nightmare waiting to happen."

"Point. I guess I just miss it being easier sometimes. And I'm pissed that we're not seeing each other over break."

"You don't want to go to MLA. Trust me. Too much concentrated anxiety." Arthur sat down next Merlin on the sofa. He was hesitant for moment, but when Merlin let out a sigh and drooped into the sofa, he put his arm around Merlin. "I'm sorry."

"I know. Not your fault. And I don't want go to MLA, you're right. I just wanted us to spend time together."

"I did, too."

Merlin gave another sigh, this time curling himself against Arthur's side and pressing his face into Arthur's shoulder. "I hate the world."

Arthur pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "How can I make it better?"

"Make me tea?" Merlin rubbed his face against the soft, warm material of Arthur's shirt and breathed in his scent. "And proofread my Brockden Brown paper?"

 

*

 

_Monday, 14 December, 7.00pm_

 

Thankfully, Arthur agreed to proofread not only Merlin's paper on Charles Brockden Brown, but also the one on landscape in Radcliffe's The Italian, and he even went through Merlin's Old English paper on The Dream of the Rood and commented a couple times on that paper.

("The cross talks."

"Just edit, Arthur."

"It talks. Heroically. There's a reason Medieval's my minor field. Though this is better than the one on groves and mountains."

"EDIT. Also, you love that poem, so stop.")

Merlin wouldn't have asked, really, and he only wanted to make sure somebody caught the spelling and grammar errors that he wasn't able to. And he would've asked Lance or Freya for that help, but apparently his body had decided that once classes were over, it was done with the semester, too, and came down with the worst cold ever.

Mutant death cold, probably. Or something like that, Merlin found out, after dragging himself to the health center for the earliest possible appointment on Monday morning.

"Strep throat," Merlin croaked, handed Arthur the prescription he needed filled along with the latest draft of his Romantic Novel paper, and proceeded to spend the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon asleep.

He woke up a few times to let Arthur give him tea and medicine, to visit the bathroom, and finally to take a shower so he could eventually move from the sofa to the bed and not feel completely disgusting.

"You don't need to stay." Merlin looked away from the computer screen to where Arthur had settled himself on Merlin's bed. Arthur had decided that he was either well enough to sit on the sofa or work on his papers for a little while. Not both. He was emphatic enough that Merlin didn't argue. "You can go home."

"And you don't have to talk."

"I'm not texting you when we're in the same room."

Arthur smiled, nudged his bare foot against Merlin's blanket-covered one, and leaned in to kiss Merlin on the ear before he went back to grading papers. "I'll stay."

Merlin's apartment was small – a tiny living space and a slightly less tiny bedroom – but he had a full bed and room for Arthur to spend a couple days, even if his books always seemed to get mixed up with Merlin's and his clothes never quite made their way out of Merlin's apartment until Merlin did the laundry. Arthur claimed a fondness for things like Merlin's old tattered quilt from his Mom's house, and the pile of fleece blankets that came out when the temperature went down and the heat didn't go up, and Merlin's collection of dictionaries and his one of Batman comics.

He also had a collection of ungraded student papers, three partially finished papers of his own, and the prospect of MLA looming about and ruining his Christmas vacation. Merlin blinked at his computer. He could probably afford to be miserable, ill, and pathetic for the rest of the evening.

With that decision, he closed up his macbook and let himself fall asleep against Arthur, trying not to think about how not being able to stay awake for most of the time they were spending together upped his pathetic quotient.

 

*

 

_Dec 26, 8:16 pm   
From: Arthur_

Have arrived in Philly after uneventful plane ride. Hotel lovely but cold. Miss you. Is all well? Sorry I missed your call earlier, was already at airport.

 

_Dec 26, 8:52 pm  
From: Arthur_

… are you still moping? Text me.

 

_Dec 26, 9:01 pm  
From: Merlin_

NO not moping watching tv w mom did you sleep on plane or are you complete mess

 

_Dec 26, 9:06 pm  
From: Arthur_

Why would I be sleeping in the middle of the afternoon? I'm fine, just travel worn. You're watching Holiday Inn, aren't you?

 

_Dec 26, 9:17 pm  
From: Merlin_

maybe? and you should rest you get cranky when you travel and dont sleep enough

 

_Dec 26, 9:20 pm   
From: Arthur_

I can tell you are because it's taking you so long to reply. I do not get cranky.

 

_Dec 26, 9:29 pm  
From: Merlin_

do so get cranky and refuse to rest like normal human being. also my favorite holiday movie! i will make you watch it with me

 

_Dec 26, 9:34 pm  
From: Arthur_

Are you suggesting I share a holiday tradition with you despite my crankiness? I'd love to watch with you…

 

_Dec 26, 9:39 pm  
From: Merlin_

… miss you too. i would soothe your crankiness

 

_Dec 26, 9:43 pm  
From: Arthur_

With Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby?

 

_Dec 26, 9:47 pm  
From: Merlin_

yes! :)

 

_Dec 26, 9:48 pm  
From: Merlin_

also with other non fred/bing methods. i like soothing you

 

_Dec 26, 9:50 pm  
From: Arthur_

Fred/Bing? Like Wordsworth/Coleridge?

 

_Dec 26, 9:54 pm  
From: Merlin_

sometimes i hate you and your lack of scholarly integrity how did you become a professor?

 

_Dec 26, 9:56 pm  
From: Arthur_

…

 

_Dec 26, 10:04 pm  
From: Arthur_

Fine! Not like. And none of them were. Tell me more soothing things, dear.

 

_Dec 26, 10:06 pm  
From: Merlin_

dear?! must really miss me

 

_Dec 26, 10:08 pm  
From: Arthur_

I do. A great deal, in fact. Recall how I said the hotel was cold?

 

_Dec 26, 10:11 pm  
From: Merlin_

oh… you need company ;)

 

_Dec 26, 10:13 pm  
From: Arthur_

Company would be nice. More than nice. Select company, that is.

 

_Dec 26, 10:16 pm  
From: Merlin_

obv select not letting anyone rub your back or feet. not that theyd know quite how to do it the right way

 

_Dec 26, 10:20 pm  
From: Arthur_

That… sounds nice indeed. Love the way your hands move over me when you give me backrub. Very warming.

 

_Dec 26, 10:23 pm  
From: Merlin_

because you feel amazing under my hands your shoulders and back the way you arch up into my touch

 

_Dec 26, 10:26 pm  
From: Arthur_

Can't help myself. You always know where I'm tense or ache or need to be touched. God. Your hands, Merlin.

 

_Dec 26, 10:27 pm  
From: Arthur_

(I assume your movie's over, then?)

 

_Dec 26, 10:29 pm  
From: Merlin_

(godyes in own room now)

 

_Dec 26, 10:33 pm  
From: Merlin_

just really love touching you pleasing you, feeling you relax. like my hands all over your body.

 

_Dec 26, 10:37 pm  
From: Arthur_

That's… not as soothing. But just as wonderful. Your strong hands, slim fingers on my shoulders, chest…

 

_Dec 26, 10:40 pm  
From: Merlin_

god yes, love that too especially when your already wanting me so much and get hard just from me touching you

 

_Dec 26, 10:44 pm  
From: Arthur_

You're the only man who's ever done that for me. You know that, right? Makes me want you so much.

 

_Dec 26, 10:46 pm  
From: Merlin_

… really? also how much am i hating your job right now for making you be somewhere i cant touch you at all?

 

_Dec 26, 10:49 pm  
From: Arthur_

Really. I'm going to be thinking about that the whole time I'm here from now on.

 

_Dec 26, 10:50 pm  
From: Merlin_

GOOD. wont be able to keep my hands off you when i see you next

 

_Dec 26, 10:52 pm  
From: Merlin_

and you really should get some rest as is past your bedtime

 

_Dec 26, 10:54 pm  
From: Arthur_

You'll see me soon. And, unfortunately, you're right.

 

_Dec 26, 10:55 pm  
From: Merlin_

are you properly soothed? you'll sleep all right?

 

_Dec 26, 10:56 pm  
From: Arthur_

I'm soothed, and I'll sleep as well as I can. You, too. When you do.

 

_Dec 26, 10:57 pm  
From: Merlin_

i will. good night! still missing you. xxxx

 

_Dec 26, 10:58 pm  
From: Arthur_

Missing you, too. Good night! xx A.

 

*

 

_Wednesday, 30 December, 7.34pm_

 

"Can I come in, or was that invitation really for one day only?"

Despite his fingers and toes already freezing from standing in the open doorway to his mom's house, Merlin didn't move for a few more seconds. When he finally did, it wasn't to let Arthur into the kitchen, but to step outside onto the back porch and curve one hand around Arthur's neck to guide him into a kiss while the other rested on the lapel of his navy pea coat.

He tasted a little like coffee, a little like wintergreen chewing gum, and his lips were chapped from the cold, dry air that mingled with the scent of tea and home. Merlin smiled against Arthur and stepped back when Arthur inhaled sharply in protest of another kiss. His hands stayed put, though, so he could stroke Arthur's hair or fuss with his scarf.

"You're _here_."

"I am. Let's get inside, then you can continue to make out with me in front of your poor mother."

"What? Oh god. Mom." Merlin grabbed Arthur's suitcase before ushering Arthur into the kitchen so he could warm up. He knew, after one look at the smile on his mom's face, that she'd _known_. "You plotted with my Mom?"

"Of course not. Hunith, merry Christmas." Arthur said in a quiet voice and leaned into the hug Merlin's mother was giving him.

"Merry Christmas to you, Arthur. Would you something to eat? Or at least tea?" She helped Arthur out of his coat, appraising him in the sort of way always did Merlin right when he arrived home for a visit, and went to get another mug for tea.

"He's definitely having tea with us. And some food. He probably hasn't eaten since he left the convention."

"I had a sandwich on the plane. But if you're eating, I'm happy to join you."

Happy to leave Arthur to get mothered for a few minutes, Merlin grabbed Arthur's bag and brought it, along with his suitcase, into the spare room. The futon bed would need some extra blankets and pillows, maybe the thermal blanket, and Merlin couldn't believe how incredibly happy he was to be thinking about bed linens.

He'd sleep in here with Arthur tonight, that wouldn't be a problem, and might cancel out the need for the thermal blanket. The vague sense of disappointment and stronger one of longing that had characterized the past week for him melted into the exhilaration that kept edging out into a smile. The end of the semester had been terrible, what with their fight and the lingering tension that came after, the onslaught of grading and Merlin getting sick at the same time, and then that wretched, grey day at the bus stop when Merlin left for Ealdor.

This was better. This was much better, to have Arthur back with him in the relative privacy of home.

Quiet footsteps padded behind Merlin. He smiled again, full and unguarded, as Arthur wrapped him in a hug from behind and nuzzled into the hair at the nape of Merlin's neck.

"Your mother keeps trying to feed me cookies. Apparently you have dozens."

"We do. You can eat as many as you like."

Light from the hallway slanted into the otherwise dark room, falling in wide stripes over the futon and Arthur's bags; Merlin closed his eyes against it and leaned back into Arthur and the much-missed feeling of his arms around Merlin's body.

 

*

 

_Friday, 1 January, 9.17am_

 

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Merlin shuffled into the kitchen. "Bright. Cold. Early," he muttered and accepted a cup of tea and a cookie from Arthur.

"It's your punishment for making me stay up until midnight."

That earned Arthur a grumble in reply. At least until Merlin remembered how Arthur had looked with his hair a rumpled, sticking-up mess, his face soft from having dozed off around eleven-thirty, and his eyes bleary with need for sleep when the New Year had arrived. Then he smiled and kissed the top of Arthur's head. "You're sort of cute when you're tired and grumpy."

"I am not. You're making that up to be annoying. Must be my punishment." Arthur peered up at Merlin from his seat at the kitchen table, grinning, and tugged Merlin down into his lap. "Happy New Year."

"S'better." Merlin wriggled in closer at the kisses Arthur gave to his shoulder, his mouth warm through the thin tee shirt Merlin had worn to bed. "Happy New Year. My mom's gone already. Gone to visit my Aunt Viv."

"I know." Arthur nuzzled into the small space where Merlin's neck met his shoulder and kept nuzzling until Merlin wriggled against the teasing. "Let's eat some breakfast first."

Not that tea and cookies counted as breakfast in Arthur's world any other morning, but today he was happy enough to continue nuzzling against Merlin's neck or to stroke his stomach, warm fingers dipping under the waist of Merlin's boxers, while they drank tea and nibbled oatmeal cookies.

"Was it true? What you told me when we were texting?" Merlin stood between Arthur's legs after Arthur sat down on the edge of the futon bed and slid his fingers through Arthur's hair. "About how when I touch you?"

"You know that's true." Arthur tipped his head back into the stroking, then to the side and his lips caught Merlin's wrist. "Only you," he murmured to answer the question Merlin was really asking.

The warmth that had been fluttering around the edges of his senses, arousal and slow-growing need, gathered at the base of Merlin's stomach. His fingertips skimmed over Arthur's face, sweeping his fringe from his forehead and mapping a path down the slope of his nose to his lips.

"Good," Merlin said, as he had in their text conversation, and his fingers dropped lower to Arthur's jaw and his adam's apple. He kept his touch gentle, barely grazing the sensitive spot behind Arthur's ear and using the very tip of his index finger to stroke back down the side of his neck.

Arthur's breath caught, a near imperceptible sound, and his hand on Merlin's hip tensed. He'd been correct – Merlin knew he loved being touched and that he loved watching Merlin's hands doing the touching, especially when Merlin brought him off.

"That first time… in my office. Your fingers all over my dick," Arthur breathed out his words. "Came so fast, I'd wanted you to do that so bad for so long."

"I loved that. You were just stunning. Beautiful," Merlin added in a smaller, softer voice and fingered the edge of Arthur's shoulder. "I want to take care of you."

Arthur gave a nod. He'd already stripped off his sleep shirt, but now he stood to let Merlin keep on stroking his arms and chest, more slow, sweeping touches until Merlin was ready to get him out of his pajama pants.

Merlin kept himself dressed while his hands moved over Arthur's body to find more of his sensitive spots, to tickle along his ribcage and to rest his palm over Arthur's stomach while the tips of his fingers petted in tiny, repetitious motions.

What he loved best was to press the whole of his hands, flat, against Arthur's broad chest and to stroke slowly down the warm length his body. He loved how Arthur was already hard and how his hips would nudge up against Merlin, how his cock would brush Merlin's thigh, and how Arthur would clench his jaw to keep himself from rubbing in against Merlin.

He loved to see Arthur shudder, too, and take those hitching, desperate breaths that sounded like they came from deep inside, past his chest and past his stomach, where arousal had wound itself, tight and hot, inside Arthur. He had such self-control, Arthur, that he managed to tamp down the trembling of both his breath and body until Merlin palmed his erection.

Then it was like he broke, his breath suddenly loud and his body tight with need against Merlin's. Merlin stroked him until he was good and hard, his cock curving up to leave a little damp spot on his belly. Every time one of Merlin's fingers glided over the tip or stroked down to the base of his cock, Arthur shivered.

This faint, subtle shiver. It went through his whole body and trembled through his breath. It went through Merlin's body and he was hard, too, even before he let Arthur spend some time seated again to kiss and lick over Merlin's stomach and cock.

"We should…" Merlin gestured to Arthur's bag, where they'd put the lube and condoms.

"You… do it." Arthur nuzzled in against Merlin's belly button, his nose and lips warm, and gave another uneven breath when Merlin's hand moved to stroke himself.

So Merlin did. He rolled the condom down onto Arthur, glancing up at Arthur to watch Arthur watch his fingers. He slicked Arthur with lube, then slicked and stretched himself, and a surge of arousal hardening him even further when he caught sight of the expression on Arthur's face as he pushed two fingers inside himself.

Arthur always stretched him out good and slow, pressing one finger in at a time inside Merlin. His own fingers were an eager, unsteady, rough press, a shaky scissoring until he was ready for Arthur to take him.

When Arthur did, Merlin felt too tight and too full for a moment, then wonderfully full, climax a spiral of warmth and pleasure that filtered through his breath and senses.

Later, after they'd dozed and curled up under blankets and mid-morning sun, Merlin went out to fetch real breakfast food and brought it back to the futon bed. He kissed Arthur on the lips and tucked himself in against Arthur's side, content to spend the first day of the new year at home.


End file.
